Win or Lose, Warriors Clearly Need to Find Help for Stephen Curry

The Clippers’ game plan is clear: take away Stephen Curry and force the Warriors’ supporting cast to beat them – all while the Clippers’ explosive offense keeps the pressure on.

In Game 1, the non-Curry’s balled and the Warriors won. In Game 2, they didn’t and the Warriors lost.

Who believes the Warriors’ extras can do it three more times? Not the Clippers. Which points to a greater problem for Golden State management.

No matter what comes of this series, one thing is clear for the Warriors moving forward – they need more talent. More specifically, Stephen Curry needs another beast to run with.

The Warriors are a good team, no doubt. Their roster is full of good pieces. They have great chemistry and, when all things are clicking, are a formidable foe. But to compete in this Western Conference, you need multiple beasts. The Warriors have one.

San Antonio has Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. Even though Manu Ginobili is on his last legs, Kawhi Leonard is keeping San Antonio fully loaded.

Oklahoma City has Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The Clippers have Chris Paul and Blake Griffin (and Jamal Crawford can still take over a game by himself).

Houston has Dwight Howard and James Harden. Portland has LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard.

They are all equipped for when things aren’t clicking. They have places to go when something has to be made for nothing, players who are problems just because of their exceptional ability. And all of them have an inside-out combination.

The reality for the Warriors is they have Stephen Curry and their next in line is not on par with the elite of the league. Klay Thompson could be headed there and David Lee, you could argue, was once there. But neither can you bank on to carry the Warriors against the elite.

Andre Iguodala perhaps was supposed to be that. Based on his playoff performance against the Warriors last year, that was a good bet. But he’s not that either. And Harrison Barnes isn’t on that track either.

Maybe they should have jumped on Curry needs a better Robin, or a Batman. Until either happens, the Warriors don’t have enough to be real contenders in the Western Conference. To win a championship, you need at least three superstar players, or three players playing like it at the right time.

LeBron James was right about that.

The Warriors have one star, two really good players in Lee and Thompson and three really valuable pieces/glue guys in Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green. That won’t cut it, not in this Western Conference.

You can sneak in to the elite crowd. But stay long enough and you will be exposed. The Warriors have been trying to run with the big boys on the strength of team chemistry in team work. That only gets you so far. Perhaps it gets you a first-round upset. If everything breaks right, maybe to the Western Conference Finals as a Cinderella story.

Of course, everything hasn’t gone right for the Warriors. They are down two centers and the third is defying time. They have acquired six players since the end of last season (Nemanja Nedovic, Andre Iguodala, Marreese Speights, Toney Douglas, Jermaine O’Neal, Jordan Crawford, Steve Blake) and only two see a healthy portion of minutes regularly.

Warriors can still win this series. But it’s going to require David Lee playing in the same league as Blake Griffin. It’s going to require Klay Thompson being a problem for the Clippers. Otherwise, the Clippers would be happy to double and triple-team Curry and take their chances with the Warriors’ supporting cast beating them.

That was the case in Game 2 and Curry, in the first year of his four-year extension, never looked more alone. And you have to wonder how long he wants to shoulder the burden alone. How long before he starts clamoring for a Big Three that makes the rest of the league shudder?

Until they at least get a Big Two, they will be what they: a really good team that’s just not ready to run with the big boys.

* The Warriors were 4 of 19 from 3-point range in Game 2 after going 11 of 27 in Game 1. This is clearly the determining factor between wins and losses for Golden State. They make 3s, they will at least be in any game.

The Clippers, though, ended the season as the best in the league defending the 3, holding opponents to a league-best 33.2 percent.

The Warriors finished fourth in the league by shooting 38.0 percent from 3-point range.

* Losing by 40 in Game 2 could work to the Warriors’ advantage in Game 3. On one hand, the Clippers sent a resounding message that they are the superior team. They played their best and the result was domination. On the other hand, that should be easy to write that off as a fluke. Mark Jackson’s clubs are good at bouncing back, so shaking that one off shouldn’t be hard since nothing went right for the Warriors.

Also, if the Clippers were ever going to get arrogant and not bring their A game, you’d have to think it’s after winning by 40.

* Stephen Curry said the cameo in the State Farm commercial with Chris Paul was worked out a year ago. He had no hand in it appearing while he and Paul were facing off in the playoffs.

“I’m guessing it worked out pretty well for State Farm,” Curry said. “That’s got nothing to do with what goes on, on the floor.”